Wanton Faith
by MangaFreak15
Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister. But what if she doesn't want to be found?
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Modified: Dec. 30, 2009**

**Hey guys. I know you guys all really liked this story, but I think it's a piece of shit. So I'm going to be re-writing it. I know I've constantly broken promises about re-writing and shit, but this time it's for real. I have no right to tell you to be patient, because I know you guys have been extremely patient (and perhaps overly so), and most likely a good number of you have forgotten about this story. I'll be seeing you later. All the chapters I am re-writing (save chapter one) will be deleted and replaced. Have a nice day and happy reading.**

**Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister, and Konoha's only salvation. The problem is locating her first.**

**Note: For the sake of this story, Sasuke did not leave to Orochimaru and Inuyasha never fell in love with Kikyo. I know that "Sesshomaru" is supposed to be spelled "Sesshoumaru" but it's easier to skip the doubling.**

**Warning: Language**

* * *

**Wanton Faith**

**Ch. 1**

**The Beginning**

* * *

The golden sun blazed high against the sharp blue of the sky, glaring down upon what appeared to be a battlefield. Illuminating rays cast dark shadows on the slain bodies littering the streets of the village of Konoha, sticky red blood pooling around them, splattered on broken walls, smeared across abandoned weapons, flying through the air and landing on human faces.

Destruction ravaged through the streets as Konoha shinobi clashed viciously with Oto shinobi. Harsh, screeching noises resonated through the structures, shattering houses and shops as well as eardrums. Shinobi were torn to pieces by fast moving drills consisting of man and dog, or devoured by chakra-eating insects wielded by the mysterious Aburame clan. Jutsu after jutsu were unleashed, smashing into frail bodies and tossing them effortlessly into piles of rubble. Yet, one building remained untouched amidst it all, standing proudly in the back of the village near the mountain of faces.

Within the building, inside a circular office, was a small group of people. A worn-looking woman with dull blonde hair pulled back into low twin pig-tails, sat at an ornate brown desk, her hands clasped together for her chin to rest on. Facing her was a trio of children with an adult man standing near them.

The blonde woman, aptly named Senju Tsunade as the granddaughter of the Shodaime Hokage, addressed each of the people with complete seriousness, "Naruto –" the short, blonde, orange-clad figure grinned his trademark smile "– Sakura –" the pink-haired kunoichi gave Tsunade her full attention, but snuck glances at the dark-haired boy next to her "– Sasuke –" the dark-haired shinobi inclined his head to show he was listening "– and Kakashi –" the silver-haired man gazed at her out of his visible right eye "– you have a new mission. This is very important, and it _will_ help us in the long run if you succeed." She thumbed through the folder on her desk, opening it up to show the picture of a very exotic looking six-year old.

"Hey, Sasuke, that girl looks like you," Naruto commented loudly, squinting curiously at the picture.

Sasuke's brow furrowed in surprise. "An Uchiha?" he murmured. "She does have all the necessary qualities, but her eyes are too blue to be an Uchiha . . ."

Tsunade held up the picture. "Precisely. She is an Uchiha that wasn't present during _that incident_. All information on her is hidden to everyone but the Hokage. She was a taboo subject to speak about years ago," she explained.

"But why?" Sakura interjected.

Tsunade stared fiercely at them. "What I am about to say must be kept a carefully guarded secret," she said. "Do you understand?"

"Hai!"

"This photo was taken twelve years ago by Uchiha Mikoto, Sasuke's mother. The child in the photo is her daughter, Uchiha Higurashi Kagome; also known as Uchiha Itachi's twin sister and Sasuke's older sibling."

The resulting reactions differed quite a bit. Naruto's eyes bugged out in shock and his jaw seemed to fall to the ground. Sakura screamed, "Sasuke has a SISTER!" Sasuke himself jerked in surprise and stared at the photo, old memories resurfacing to the forefront of his mind as he slowly began to recognize the girl in the photo. Kakashi's one visible eye just swiveled to the photo, understanding showing through.

Tsunade waited patiently until everyone sufficiently recovered from the shock to continue, "Information regarding Uchiha Kagome was hidden because the Uchiha clan felt the need to cover up a bad memory. Kagome was an Uchiha prodigy through and through, but she vanished the day Sasuke was born. Another unusual fact about her was that when a doctor examined her, he mentioned that she would be unable to use the Sharingan due to an extremely rare hand-down of purification powers."

"What does this have to do with our mission, though?" Sakura asked.

"Because Kagome inherited purification powers, she will be able to thoroughly dispose of Orochimaru. I don't just mean kill him either. The powers she received can purify the darkest souls, if used properly. Her ancestor, Uchiha Midoriko, married into the Uchiha clan via marriage contract and her powers were passed down to Uchiha Kikyo, Sasuke's great-great-great-great grandmother, and then down to Kagome.

"Now, your new mission is to find Kagome and bring her back. It will be very difficult and Uchiha Itachi may intercept you along the way to kill you. Be on your guard," Tsunade warned.

"You bet! I'll show those Akatsuki freaks who they're dealing with!" Naruto said.

Team Seven exited the office. Tsunade swiveled around in her chair, staring grimly outside at the bloody battlefield with only one thought on her mind:

_Hurry._

* * *

Perched high above a peaceful green valley, one foot on the metal railing while the other balanced on the stone floor, was an eighteen-year-old female. Long, thin tresses of ebony were bundled together in a high ponytail on her head, tied back by a simple white band. Narrow, exotic, ocean-blue eyes gazed down to the valley, a thin smile tugging on lush pink lips. Her arms were parallel as they lay across her raised knee, a sword clasped underneath her arm so that the hilt rested on her left elbow.

This was Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, prodigy extraordinaire and student of the prestigious Sesshomaru.

Soft approaching footsteps alerted her to the presence of her teacher. A tall young man with long silver hair and striking golden eyes came out onto the balcony. "You have finished your training under me. Now what will you do?" he asked.

Kagome pondered. She only had one real goal in mind at the moment, "I wish to seek out my brother and bring him back here to live peacefully."

"Very well. You should be able to defend yourself against _him_ now that you've finished training," Sesshomaru said, growling as he mentioned "him". Kagome's eyes darkened.

"I know. Thank you for saving me that time," she said. "I am in your debt."

Their conversation was cut short as a white-haired youth ran into through the room to the balcony, shouting, "Kagome, Sango and Miroku are in trouble!"

Sesshomaru raised a slim eyebrow. "You couldn't have taken care of them yourself, Inuyasha?"

The youth flushed angrily and retorted, "Fuck you, bastard! Of course I couldn't do anything if they were being held at kunai point!"

Kagome sighed irritably," Fine. I'll just take care of those stupid intruders. They have no right to cross into our territory anyhow." With a graceful leap, Kagome pushed off the railing and fell feet first towards the valley below. To this day Inuyasha wonders how she does it without getting hurt, seeing as the balcony was rather high up.

* * *

At the border of a thick grove of trees were four figures. A man in a black robe and a purple vest was pinned against a tree with his hands tied behind him. A beefy ninja with a rugged face held the edge of a sharp black kunai against his throat, smoldering onyx eyes glaring fiercely at the bound man. However, the man was not intimidated, whatsoever.

The rogue ninja's partner was hungrily scanning the lovely, curvy figure of a woman in a skin tight black shirt and pants. She wore a knee-length red coat that had multiple hidden compartments fitted snugly on the inside, used for holding various weapons on a person. The rogue ninja licked his cracked, dry lips, leering at the woman with lust. She turned her face away in utter disgust.

The first ninja growled at the bound man again, "I'll say it one more time and if you don't answer, I'll turn you into mincemeat, you got that?"

The bound man was nervous, but nonetheless, replied snidely, "I didn't know rogue ninjas such as yourself were capable of understanding the fine art of cutting people into mincemeat. You should order a book and learn."

The ninja snarled and the kunai pressed against the soft flesh, a thin trickle of blood escaping the small cut and flowing down the tanned, graceful neck. "You think you're so smart, raven head? I'll show you smart –"

"_Otera no Hi!"_

A writhing mass of flame burst into existence, rushing with astonishing speed towards the startled rogue ninjas. "What the hell –" the first ninja cursed as he turned to face the oncoming flames.

"_Ya no Mizu!"_

A single beam shot through the flames and crashed through the trees holding the two captives bound, freeing them just in time for them to dodge. The rogue ninjas were engulfed in the blazing inferno, shrieks of agony quickly dying away.

"_Suiton: Nami no Jutsu."_

A roar of water extinguished the advancing flames before they could burn down the forest that served as a barrier wall for the valley. The two former captives smiled at their rescuers. "Thanks, Kagome-chan," the woman smiled at her best friend gratefully.

"No problem, Sango. Those losers deserved it anyway," Kagome said, flicking her ponytail off her shoulder. "Did they catch you two by surprise?"

"Unfortunately," the man cut in. "We were reinforcing the barrier seals, but apparently they were coming down the road when we took the old seals off."

"Everything turned out okay though," Sango said. "Miroku and I will get back to the sealing now."

"Ah, well, I have to say something about that," Kagome said, twirling a lock of fine black hair around one of her fingers. "I'm going out."

The two started. "What? Where?" Sango asked.

"I'm going to find my brother," Kagome replied. "Of course, he is outside the valley, so . . ."

Sango sighed, patting Kagome on the shoulder. "Stay safe, okay, Kagome-chan?" she whispered.

"You bet. No amateur can take me down," Kagome said, grinning.

Once reaching the seal area, the entrance to the valley, Kagome departed on a journey to find her brother, waving absently to her two friends as she left.

_I'll be with you soon, Itachi. Just you wait. I'm coming for you._

* * *

**Well, this is it. It was just an at-the-moment idea that I started falling into. This is the re-written version and more will come soon. I do have a real life out there though, so keep in mind that I will not always have time to update. I am still slowly working on **_**The Shikon's Mistake, Vampire Queen, Alchemy-nology**_** and the sequel to **_**The Memories We Share**_**, but progress is painfully slow, suffice to say.**

**There is also the possibility that I might combine two short chapters into one.**

**Translations**

**hai - yes**

**Otera no Hi - Temple of Fire**

**Suiton: Nami no Jutsu - Water Style: Wave Technique**

**Ya no Mizu - Arrow of Water**

**See you later,**

**MangaFreak15**


	2. Chapter 2: The Search Begins

**Modified: Jan. 1, 2010**

**Thanks for all the feedback. Much appreciated.**

**Previous Story Status:**

**Chapters: 1**

**Reviews: 307**

**Words: 2226**

**Hits: 4120**

**C2s: 14**

**Favs: 101**

**Alerts: 180**

**Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister, and Konoha's only salvation. The problem is locating her first.**

**Note: For the sake of this story, Sasuke did not leave to Orochimaru and Inuyasha never fell in love with Kikyo. I know that "Sesshomaru" is supposed to be spelled "Sesshoumaru" but it's easier to skip the doubling.**

**Warning: Language**

* * *

**Wanton Faith**

**Ch. 2**

**The Search Begins**

* * *

Somewhere between Konoha and the border to Wind Country were two mysterious people wearing high-collar black cloaks with a strange red cloud pattern on them. They were hidden amongst the thick foliage of trees that surrounded them. One of them had dark charcoal-black hair that was tied in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck, two wide, separate fringes framing the hardened face. Two long stresses line, one on either side of his nose, only served to add to his criminal-like appearance. His companion, a tall, muscular man with jagged dark-blue hair and a shark-like face complete with gills, hefted his unusual chakra-leeching sword upon his shoulder.

"Itachi-san," the shark man began, "how long until we reach the village?"

" . . . Two hours," Itachi spoke. "We have time. There is no need to rush."

In truth, Itachi did not really want to go back to Konoha. It was just a place of bad memories. The only thing that kept him going then had been Sasuke. He'd failed to protect Kagome from being kidnapped. And he'd failed to protect Sasuke from Orochimaru. Killing was just a way of suppressing those guilty thoughts.

A few minutes later they heard soft voices growing louder and louder as people passed by on the path. Itachi and Kisame leaped into a tree to prevent being seen, as well as masking their chakra the best they could. They recognized the voices of Kakashi's genin team. Itachi tensed noticeably as a certain name reached his ears.

"– spies mention spotting her close to Earth Country a few years ago."

"Earth Country? Where's that?"

A smack.

"Idiot! Didn't you ever pay attention to Iruka-sensei during class?"

"Ow! You didn't have to hit so hard!"

"Hn. Usuratonkachi."

"What did you say, teme?! Ha! I bet I could find Uchiha Kagome before you!"

"In your dreams, dobe."

"Sasuke's right, Naruto! There's no way you could –"

_Snap._

Kakashi's team looked up, startled, as they were confronted by a furious Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke hissed and his Sharingan blazed to life, shouting in a hate-filled voice, "Itachi! Today you'll get your –"

Kakashi's hand whipped out and grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, his sharp voice cutting through Sasuke's vengeful thoughts, "Stop it, Sasuke! Now isn't the time for your petty revenge!"

"Petty revenge? _Petty revenge?!_ That bastard murdered my clan!" Sasuke roared, shrugging Kakashi's hand off and charging up the Chidori in his right hand. "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Itachi ducked under the dangerous jutsu and kicked Sasuke in the stomach, sending him flying backwards towards his team. "Tell me, Kakashi," he began, standing up stiffly, "what do you want with Kagome? Where is she?"

"We don't have to tell you!" Naruto shouted, but Kakashi held him back from charging and attacking the missing nin.

"Konoha is being destroyed by Orochimaru's forces and Uchiha Kagome is the only salvation Konoha has," Kakashi answered. "If you get in our way, I will have to fight you."

Itachi's death glare inwardly made Kakashi shiver a little. "You cannot hope to defeat me, Kakashi. If you do anything to Kagome, I _will_ hunt you down and kill you. Understand?" Itachi vanished in a blur of black feathers.

"He doesn't scare me!" Naruto declared. "Ha! I bet he was –"

"That's enough, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Itachi has his reasons, you must understand."

Only Kakashi had seen the thin film of sadness that lay underneath the potent Uchiha death glare, and he understood.

* * *

Kagome was actually extremely fast and had high stamina, so only a day later, in the middle of the afternoon, she was already halfway through Wave Country. She took a break and leaped into a tree, dangling both legs over the branch as she leaned back against the trunk. She thought about the information she'd obtained on her journey.

Itachi was an S-class criminal who'd massacred the entire Uchiha clan in one night around five years ago. He'd joined with a criminal organization called Akatsuki, who were hunting down the jinchuuriki and bijuu. His partner was a shark-like man named Hoshigaki Kisame, a criminal who'd attempted assassination of the Mizukage and wanted for other crimes across the country. He was formerly part of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

Her contemplation about the change in events overtime was disrupted by a hysterical scream and fast, scraping footsteps. Kagome leaned forward a little and saw a frightened woman burst out of the surrounding trees, stumbling over small rocks in her path.

A whooshing sound was heard and a black kunai came flying out, slicing the skin on the woman's arm as it flew past. She winced, but kept going.

A man stormed out, angry black eyes fixated on the fleeing woman. He slipped another kunai into his hand from his pouch and threw it, this time aiming for the back of the woman's neck.

His kunai was stopped as a sudden gust of wind blew into him and sent him tumbling backwards. A mysterious girl came down from the trees, a hardened look in her blue eyes.

"You bitch!" he shouted, spying the fleeing woman halting when she realized that someone had stopped the man from chasing her. "Stand aside so I can kill the fucking whore, then you're next!"

"I beg to differ. You are no match for me."

The smooth cold voice stopped the man in his tracks. "What did you say, you little –"

The man got no further as he was promptly incinerated by a giant ball of flame that reduced him to mere ashes on the path. Kagome scoffed down at the ashes and muttered, "Men."

The frightened woman approached her and said shyly, "Thank you for helping me, miss. That man scared me."

Kagome nodded. "Do you need help getting back to your village?" she asked.

The woman shook her head. "I'll be okay. Thank you for offering." She started back down the path, waving at Kagome merrily. Kagome just raised a hand in parting.

Now, time to find Itachi.

She began to head for the nearest village for a bit of food to eat, as well as seeing if she could acquire any extra information on her brother.

As she approached a fruit stand run by a kind old woman, Kagome discreetly checked the surrounding area for any hostile chakra signatures. Here . . . there . . . over there . . . none. Good. Kagome bought a bag of apples from the old woman and walked towards the bookstore.

"Excuse me," she said, entering the shop, hearing a tiny little bell jangle over her head.

A young boy was sitting at the counter reading. He looked up when she entered and gave her a gap-toothed grin. "Hi, miss! Can I help you?"

Kagome smiled at the little boy. "Yes, I was wondering if you have a copy of the ninja bingo book?" she asked.

The little boy racked his thoughts. "Bingo book . . . bingo book," he murmured. He turned towards the back room and called, "Tou-san! Do we have any bingo books?"

A man with cropped brown hair came out from the room, wiping dust off his hands. "A bingo book? Yeah, we have a copy. It's the last copy we have other than the one we keep at home," he said. "Come with me . . ." He gestured for her to say her name.

"Uchiha, please."

The little boy stared at her wide-eyed. "You're an Uchiha?!" he exclaimed, hopping off the stool that served as his chair behind the counter. "I thought they were wiped out five years ago!"

"I . . . wasn't there during that time," Kagome said quietly, looking away.

The man wisely refrained from asking questions. "Well then, please come with me, Uchiha-san," he said, heading back into the room.

Kagome followed him and received a dusty copy of the bingo book. "Thank you," she said, waving to the little boy as she exited the shop.

Kagome headed out of the village. She found a nice tall tree down the path to read in, so she leaped on to a thick sturdy branch and began.

* * *

Meanwhile Team Seven had passed through the village they'd saved from complete poverty not too long ago. Naruto had gaped at the giant plaque that stated that the villagers had named the bridge _The Great Naruto Bridge._ He turned and grinned at an amused Sasuke. "They named the bridge after me! Take that, Sasuke-teme!"

"You're still a dobe, though."

As expected, Naruto blew up, "TEME!"

"Usuratonkachi."

"Jerk!"

"Shorty."

"Asshole!"

"Idiot."

"Bastard!"

"Naruto!"

_WHAM!_

"Itai!"

Naruto clutched at the bump on his head. "Sakura . . ." he whined.

The pink-haired girl huffed irritably. "I don't want to hear you insult Sasuke anymore!" she said. "So cut it out!"

Naruto glared at Sasuke and stuck his tongue out. "Teme . . ." he muttered, nursing his bump. Sakura hit him again. "Ow!"

* * *

**Second revised chapter is up! I can't believe Winter Break went by so fast, soon I might not have enough time to keep up the chapters. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Thanks for reviewing.**

**Translations**

**Bijuu – tailed beast**

**Chidori – 1000 birds**

**Dobe – something along the lines of "stupid idiot"**

**Itai – ow/ouch**

**Jinchuuriki – human sacrifice**

**Mizukage – Water Shadow**

**(O)tou-san – father**

**Sensei – teacher; lit. "someone born ahead of you"**

**Sharingan – Mirror Wheel Eye**

**Teme – rude way of saying "you"**

**Usuratonkachi – fucking idiot**

**See you later,**

**MangaFreak15**


	3. Chapter 3: Encounter With Kagome

**Modified: Jan. 4, 2010**

**Thanks for all the feedback. Much appreciated.**

**Previous Story Status:**

**Chapters: 2**

**Reviews: 309**

**Words: 4263**

**Hits: 4547**

**C2s: 15**

**Favs: 104**

**Alerts: 183**

**Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister, and Konoha's only salvation. The problem is locating her first.**

**Note: For the sake of this story, Sasuke did not leave to Orochimaru and Inuyasha never fell in love with Kikyo. I know that "Sesshomaru" is supposed to be spelled "Sesshoumaru" but it's easier to skip the doubling.**

**Warning: Language**

**Pairings: None (ItaKag is purely platonic/family)**

* * *

**Wanton Faith**

**Ch. 3**

**Encounter with Kagome**

* * *

By the time Team Seven reached the spot where Kagome had been reading the bingo book, she was already well on her way to Earth Country, where the main Akatsuki base was rumored to be located (contrary to belief, the valley was actually closer to Lightning Country, so whatever rumors Team Seven heard about her being spotted in Earth Country were untrue).

Kakashi had summoned Pakkun a while back. Tsunade had sent one of her ninjas to give him a scrap of Kagome's old clothing in case he needed it. The little ninja pug was constantly alerted to any of the familiar smells.

"Hey, Kakashi," Pakkun growled, sniffing around the base of the tree Kagome formerly occupied, "I smell 'er."

Team Seven was instantly alerted. "She was here?" Kakashi mused. "Interesting. Pakkun, can you see where she went?"

Pakkun sniffed some more. "Her new scent is interesting," he remarked, looking back up at their expectant faces. "Seems like there are other demons besides the nine bijuu in this world. I can smell their contact with her."

"D-demons?" Sakura stuttered, looking very scared.

"Dog demons, to be precise," Pakkun said.

"Demon ninjas? That's so cool!" Naruto shouted.

"In any case, I can smell where she's off to. Follow me," the ninja dog said, leaping down the road hot on Kagome's trail. "We'd better hurry; she's really fast."

Around two hours later Kagome took a break to eat the rest of her apples. When Team Seven's chakra signatures invaded her 500-meter radar, she quickly created a diversion clone (changing the features a bit) and sent it ahead. Masking her powers, Kagome used a camouflage jutsu to conceal herself among the leaves of the tree.

Five minutes later Team Seven passed her hiding place. Kagome observed them critically, noting that there were two boys, a girl, a man (a Jounin, from the look of his vest), and a ninja dog. She frowned when she felt the distinct demonic aura suppressed in the blonde boy's body. The girl (Kagome shuddered when she saw the bright pink hair) was nothing special. The black-haired boy, however . . . Kagome barely managed to stifle a gasp when she saw the familiar symbol of the red and white fan on the back of his dark-blue shirt. That boy . . . he had to be Uchiha Sasuke, her little brother.

How interesting . . .

She sent a command through the link she shared with her clone: _Stop at the next clearing and let them fight you._

Kagome smiled to herself as she followed the team, years of stealth training from Sesshomaru helping her (including covering up her scent). _Soon, my dear brothers, we shall be reunited._

* * *

"She's stopped, Kakashi," Pakkun said. "I think we've been caught."

They entered the clearing and recoiled on the sight. "Holy . . ." Naruto whispered, his ability to yell vanishing in an instant. His ability to be rudely blunt did not. "That's one of the ugliest faces I've ever seen!"

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed, slapping her teammate upside the head. "Don't be rude."

Indeed, the person was . . . ugly.

While she could be clearly defined as a woman by the two round shapes on her chest, her other features were a bit . . . disturbing?

Her eyes were normal, the narrow sapphire-tinted gaze was a reminder of the Uchiha blood in her veins. Though clearly something must have gone wrong, because most Uchihas turned out to be "pretty". Her nose was small. But her ears were wide and flat against the side of her head. Midnight-black hair with blue tinted highlights curled in an unruly way around her thin, bony shoulders. Her lips were swollen. Her skin was the same porcelain-pale of the Uchihas, but they appeared to be covered in red blotches and scars. Her uniform was strange, but Kakashi dismissed it. Her limbs were quite thin, but her upper body was rounder around the edges. The waist area was too wide.

Sasuke's mind was blank, _Is this really Uchiha Kagome? Something's not right. How could she turn so . . . disfigured?_

Sasuke turned on his Sharingan and was surprised when he gauged the clone's chakra. The chakra level was even lower than Sakura's!

"Who are you?" he asked sharply, dismissing his Sharingan. "You're not Uchiha Kagome."

'Kagome' just grinned at him. "Who says I'm not?"

"My Sharingan tells me that your chakra level is pitifully low. That indicates that you are just a clone, or suppressing your chakra," Sasuke said.

"My dear boy," she laughed, "who ever said that I used chakra?"

Faster than Team Seven anticipated, Kagome jumped up and smashed through them with a whirlwind kick attack, sending Naruto and Sakura flying into the nearby trees while Sasuke got smashed into the ground. Kakashi dodged.

"My, my, so slow," she purred. "Are you really shinobi?"

"Uchiha Kagome, we have come to take you back to Konoha. It is being destroyed by Orochimaru as we speak," Kakashi relayed.

Her eyes flashed murderously. _"Orochimaru?"_ she hissed. "That weak bastard?!"

"Will you come with us?" Kakashi said, ignoring the whines that came from Naruto as the trio of genin slowly made it back to his side.

"No," Kagome flatly refused. "As much as I would love to feel that bastard disintegrate to dust under my hands, I have more important things to do."

"But Konoha is your home, isn't it?! Are you just going to give up on it?!" Naruto yelled, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Konoha is no longer my home," Kagome replied. "I live in a much better place. I only came out to find my brother and take him back to live with me there."

"No, you're coming with us!" Naruto argued fiercely. "I won't stand by and watch as some stranger takes away my best friend and leave my home to be destroyed!"

Kagome stared at him for a while. "You have pure ideals, young one," she said softly, bringing her left hand over her heart. "But they can't last forever. Also, who ever said that I was talking about Sasuke?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He'd had just enough of her bullshit. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" he breathed out an enormous fireball, startling his teammates.

"Sasuke! What are you doing?!" Sakura shrieked.

Both Kakashi and Sasuke noted the way that Kagome just stood there, smiling the same eerie smile, letting herself become engulfed in the flame.

"Farewell."

Kagome dissolved into a pile of nothing. Team Seven tensed noticeably as the sound of clapping was heard behind them. They froze as a familiar, yet more smooth voice washed over them, "My, my, I never expected you to be able to create such a large fireball at this age . . . Sasuke."

They all turned around, Naruto shouting, "But we just saw Sasuke-teme burn . . . you . . ." He trailed off as he saw a very beautiful woman standing in front of him instead the ugly clone they'd faced earlier.

She laughed, allowing her hands to fall to her sides. "Surprised?" she asked, inwardly snickering at their shock. "Good. My skills as a shinobi haven't rusted at all."

"You're the real Uchiha Kagome, I take it?" Kakashi said. "Will you come back with us?"

"Hmm . . ." Kagome twirled a lock of fine ebony hair around her index finger. "I think not. I have already given you an answer and a reason as to why. Run along now, and deal with Orochimaru yourself."

Just as she began to walk away, she felt someone yell from behind her, "So you're just going to let our village be destroyed? You would sentence all those innocent people to death? Would you really do that? Are you really that heartless?! Konoha was your home once too, wasn't it?!"

Kagome stopped, sighing. She turned to look at Naruto's angry face. "Look, kid, I came out here for a reason, and that was _not_ to be accosted by a bunch of snot-nosed genin just so I could be dragged back to Konoha and used as a fucking dispatcher tool. Grow up and learn something," she snapped. "If you couldn't save your own sorry asses, why should I, a single person, be able to do anything?"

Kakashi gave her a small, but honest answer, "Because you are human too."

The genin gave their sensei curious looks at his answer, but wisely kept silent.

Kagome looked at Kakashi, clearly surprised by his answer. He didn't look away.

She chuckled. "You are a wise one, Kakashi," she said, a tiny curve of her lips indicating the beginning of a smile. "Perhaps Konoha isn't so bad after all. However, what I said remains true. Konoha is a secondary priority after my initial mission, and that was to find my brother."

"Which one?"

"Itachi, of course."

Sasuke growled angrily at the mention of the name. "Why would finding _him_ be more important than saving a village full of shinobi?" he muttered.

Kagome regarded him with a mixture of cold fury and sympathy. "I would hope you'd understand, but I see you don't. It's just like asking why you would attempt to betray a village full of friends just to gain borrowed power. Think about it. The answer will come to you."

"How did you –"

"I'm not stupid, Sasuke. Research is vital to a shinobi. 'In order to understand your enemy, you must first understand yourself.' That is something I've been taught by my teacher. If you can understand it, maybe you'll see the answer too. Farewell."

Kagome vanished into thin air, leaving a heavy, contemplative silence hanging around the shinobi.

* * *

**Rewritten chapter the third is up! Thank you for reviewing. In the next chapter, there shall be action! Hopefully I can make a better fight scene.**

**Translations**

**Akatsuki – dawn**

**Bijuu – tailed beasts**

**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu – Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique**

**Sharingan – Mirror Wheel Eye**

**Sensei – teacher**

**Teme – a rude way to say "you"; commonly used as "bastard"**

**See you later,**

**MangaFreak15**


	4. Chapter 4: Showdown of the Uchiha Clan

**Modified: Jan. 16, 2010**

**Sorry for the delay. I didn't realize it had been so long. I'm not feeling well right now (as in I'm feeling hot, but if I take off my jacket, I'll instantly feel cold, my eyes hurt like a bitch, if I turn my head too fast or too much in one direction, I get a stab of pain and the need to throw up, but I don't have a fever, and my neck is a pain).**

**Previous Story Status:**

**Chapters: 3**

**Reviews: 314**

**Words: 6358**

**Hits: 5054**

**C2s: 15**

**Favs: 111**

**Alerts: 189**

**Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister, and Konoha's only salvation. The problem is locating her first.**

**Note: For the sake of this story, Sasuke did not leave to Orochimaru and Inuyasha never fell in love with Kikyo. I know that "Sesshomaru" is supposed to be spelled "Sesshoumaru" but it's easier to skip the doubling.**

**Warning: Language**

**Pairings: None (ItaKag is purely platonic/family)**

* * *

**Wanton Faith**

**Ch. 4**

**Showdown of the Uchiha Clan**

* * *

The quiet, the silence, the darkness . . . all was comforting, in a sense. Itachi shrouded himself in the comfort of the lengthy shadows that danced among the trees. And Kisame was nowhere in sight. Perfect. It gave him plenty of room to think.

The newest subject at hand brought back painful memories to him. When they were young, she was the person he treasured the most in life, even over their own mother. Kagome, dear sweet little Kagome, was his everything. When she vanished, he flipped his lid. It was like a switch went off in his brain, turning him from a child with any semblance of happiness to a cold-hearted emotionless child who tried to care for his little brother. Well, look what happened, he failed Sasuke too.

He sighed, shifting in the shadows to bury his face in his hands for a moment. _Kagome . . . are you really alive? What would you think of me?_

Itachi lifted his head, solidifying his resolve. He was going to find Kagome before Konoha did. They had much to catch up on, after all.

He walked out of the darkness and into the bright light. The moment he did, he heard a faint, but familiar sound. He stopped and cocked his head, sending chakra into his ears to hear the sound better.

He almost tripped in shock. A melody, presumably from a flute, was playing through the area. It was achingly beautiful; it haunted him and dove into his ears and circled his soul from the familiarity. This melody had been Itachi's favorite when he was young. And only because Kagome played it on her little flute.

Itachi stopped the chakra flow to his ears and immediately took off in the melody's direction. _Kagome, I'm coming._

* * *

Team Seven was still looking for Kagome when the sweet sound of a flute faintly reached their ears. They paused to listen to the song, the coordinated notes sliding in their ears and out, stimulating relaxation and a pleasant look into nature. It was a beautiful melody, everyone agreed, but who was playing it?

Sasuke gave a small jolt when he heard a voice whisper to him as the song caressed him, _"Come here, Sasuke."_

He feigned examining his surroundings to see if he could pinpoint where the flute's sound was coming from, but inwardly he was looking around for the voice who'd whispered gently in his ear.

"_Come to me, Sasuke."_

His head whipped to the side, but there was no one there; only the trees and the ground and his team. The melody vibrated in an attempt to sound more haunting, wrapping around him like a cocoon of warmth. The sultry tone beckoned to him, wavering slightly for a moment, then picking a fast pace up again.

"_Sasuke . . ."_

Without really thinking about it, Sasuke turned in a certain direction and began his quiet march.

"Sasuke? Where are you going?" Sakura called.

He did not answer her. His team watched quizzically as he disappeared into the forest, the bright red and white Uchiha fan stitched to the back of his high-collar shirt disappearing into the thick layers of leaves and trees.

"Hey! Sasuke-teme, wait up!" Naruto hollered, running into the forest after his dark-haired teammate.

"Naruto!" Sakura started after them.

Kakashi sighed, giving one last look to the empty road and the wind-swept leaves among the gently swaying tendrils of grass, before he trekked after his scattered team of genin.

* * *

The melody danced through her head with a familiar clarity, not a single note missed, not a single waver in the beautiful, haunting, melodious tune. All the sweet sounds thrummed out gently under the deftly working fingers, pressing against the little holes in the hollow instrument, one, two, three. The wind picked up its pace, dancing in moderation with the lithe figure swaying unconsciously into the embrace of the breeze, letting the course of nature crash over her body like a waterfall, drowning in sound. One, two, three.

Again and again, the hidden words inside the song shifted, drumming through her head and spilling as notes of music through the flute, as dear and clear to her as ever:

"_I come from villages far away,_

_Stones bleached white under_

_The moon I seek, the stars hanging there_

_Resonating like thunder's high._

_I see you eye to eye_

_The grass grows and we've been_

_Torn apart far too long, you and I,_

_We meet again under this sky._

_In this lifetime I seek to be home,_

_I seek to be free,_

_I seek to be thee,_

_I seek the wheat that trembles there,_

_I seek the little doves nesting here,_

_I seek the warmth of the hearth_

_And you alone are awaiting my return._

_So why should I travel so long_

_So far, so near,_

_Too long I've waited for this day._

_Darling, can you see_

_The empty road that we've met_

_Is now filled with fresh graves and grooves_

_And time has gone by too quickly._

_In this lifetime I seek to be home,_

_I seek to be free,_

_I seek to be thee,_

_I seek the little dolls lining the sills,_

_I seek the little shops full of frills,_

_I seek you, you seek me_

_We both only seek to free._

_Is that why you're here?_

_I truly wonder how_

_This really all came about_

_Am I really here? Am I really there?_

_Darling, can you see?_

_In this lifetime I seek to be home,_

_I seek to be free,_

_I seek to be thee,_

_I seek the children of this generation,_

_I seek the wavering tunes that clash with the seas,_

_I seek the special place for you and me,_

_For you alone are awaiting my return._

_And you alone will be free._

_Because in this lifetime, I seek to be home,_

_I seek to be free,_

_And I seek to be thee._

_Darling, look up and see_

_The reason I seek to be free."_

When her beautiful blue eyes opened, the sweeping lashes curving upwards, she felt more than saw the two similar auras wandering close to her, having been entranced by the deep melody. Smirking inwardly, she tucked the flute away inside her sealing compartment, a tattoo of the Uchiha fan that she kept above her heart. She knew that it had been one of Itachi's favorite tunes when they were young. Kagome's tutor had been an accomplished flute player, and Kagome's intense interest in the flute had brought her to Konoha's doors, for the famed Uchiha clan. Tough as lessons were, Kagome did not give up, so hopelessly in love with such a simple little instrument. Lessons did pay off, after all. The tutor had left after Kagome had been kidnapped, at least four times richer than she'd been before.

The first to emerge from the foliage was Itachi, whose jaw inwardly dropped to the ground in pure shock as he took in the sight of his long-lost twin sister, a cataract of mixed emotion filling him. He was so gripped with surprise that he nearly suffocated from the idea that he had unconsciously stopped breathing on account of interacting with his dearly beloved sister, Kagome. Itachi was not, by any means, quite aware of what happened, but he found himself enveloping Kagome in a bone-crushing hug, pouring his heart and soul into it, burying himself into the feel of her, the smell of her, the sight, the touch, the taste of familiarity and family. He drowned in the sensations, wishing that if this was real, he'd never have to let go. Not now, not ever . . .

Unfortunately the spellbinding moment was broken by the other Uchiha brother setting foot inside the sacred clearing.

Kagome and Itachi broke out of their intense little hug, turning to regard their little brother coolly. Sasuke's thinly veiled rage at the sight of Itachi was clearly expressed through the stormy deaths of his obsidian eyes. The way his fists were clenched, the downward curve of his mouth, the _trembling_ . . .

"Sasuke."

The younger Uchiha glanced at Kagome, his hate for Itachi still radiating off of him no matter how much he tried to cover it. However his rage evaporated as he met her steely blue gaze head on. The few emotions that dwelled within her eyes were interpreted quickly as she shifted into an unfamiliar fighting stance.

"I wish to evaluate your skills, otouto."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, the traditional beginning of the famed Uchiha glare. "Fine," he grunted, loosely commanding his body to perfected taijutsu stance, perfect for offense and defense as well as the ability to quickly weave hand signs if he needed to.

"Itachi, you will judge us," Kagome said, looking at the stoic Akatsuki member.

Itachi nodded and raised his hand. Kagome and Sasuke locked glares, the tension palpable in the air around them, the fierce spark of competition sizzling into imagined existence between them. Every muscle was coiled in preparation, waiting to strike.

"Begin."

Kagome made the first move, being older and faster than Sasuke, who hadn't turned on his Sharingan, _"Kawa no Hebi!"_

Sasuke leaped into the air as the earth under his feet erupted with long, thin coils of soil, viciously striking out to bind him. He sped through the most familiar sequence of hand seals he knew, joining his index finger and thumb as a circle to his mouth, _"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"_

The large fireball launched at Kagome, who stepped out of the way and followed up her dodge with a quick spin kick aimed at Sasuke's solar plexus. He tipped over in the air narrowly to avoid the strike and lashed out with his fist. Kagome leaned to the side. The two descended to the ground, continuing to batter each other with a furious flurry of palm strikes and unpredictable kicks.

One of Kagome's kicks got past Sasuke's guard and threw him to the ground with a grunt of suppressed pain. He crashed into the earth with a muffled thud, but quickly rolled to his feet and launched his next jutsu, _"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"_

The multiple fireballs shot towards Kagome, who evaded them all with quick, sharp movements. She pressed her hands together and directed her next attack towards Sasuke, _"Kinboshi no Budou!"_

Sasuke felt the world tilt as something wrapped around his ankle and slammed him into the ground, making his head hum unpleasantly from the forced impact. Something smooth, yet spring-like at the same time, wrapped around his body, hoisting him into the air with a cry.

Sasuke took a shuriken from his pouch before the vines could tighten around him and sliced the thin green plants aside, freeing himself. He landed in a crouch, fingers leaping through seals, _"Katon: Karyuu Endan!"_

The fiery beam launched quickly towards Kagome, who barely escaped having her clothes burned off by the intensity of the flame. "You sure like fire, don't you?" she said, whirling around on her heel. "I guess it's expected. Uchihas are excellent fire jutsu users."

Sasuke replied, "I do not use just fire jutsus." He moved his left hand down towards the ground slightly in front of him. Gripping his wrist with his right hand, he began charging chakra into his hand. The cacophony of a thousand birds filled the air with its screech.

"My, my, you can use the Chidori," said Kagome. "Very good, little brother."

Sasuke lowered his body so that his Chidori was now behind him, and began to race forward. His speed was incredible and swift, but Kagome was used to sparring at higher speeds. She ducked under the thrust of his arm and knocked his feet out from under him.

He did a flip on his hands and launched a kick at her face, but she parried him with a vicious jab to the stomach, making him choke in surprise.

Kagome stepped backwards and again her hands met in a strange hand seal. The wind around them began to blow harshly. Itachi sensed the warning signs of a foreseeable storm and wisely moved backwards.

Sasuke gingerly got to his feet just as Kagome called out the name of her attack, _"Ryuu no Dogou!"_

His trained senses made him leap to the side just in time. A torrent of razor-sharp wind blasted past him as he dove for cover, nicking the edge of his arm, but otherwise he remained unharmed.

Sasuke took out a few shuriken from his pouch and held them between each of his fingers. _"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"_

Kagome jumped to avoid the fireballs, also avoiding the shuriken hidden inside them. A small rush of air indicated the coming of Sasuke's foot, which she blocked with her forearm, but he grabbed her shoulders as he swung over her head and brought her down to her back.

She brought her arms up and grabbed Sasuke's wrists before crashing. He stumbled a bit when he realized his wrists were trapped. That was all the time Kagome need to twist her body halfway around and jam her index and middle fingers to a pressure point on the back of his neck, knocking him out instantly.

Kagome hefted her little brother's body over her shoulder, pausing to catch a bit of lost breath. "I win," she declared triumphantly, grinning at Itachi.

"You've grown, Kagome," he murmured, walking towards her and lifting Sasuke off.

She sighed, rotating her shoulder and stretching out her muscles. "I had a perfect teacher. He expected nothing less from me. Didn't care that I was an Uchiha; just told me that hard work pays off," she replied. "Sasuke's pretty good at strategy and follow-up attacks, but he definitely needs work. I've fought at higher speeds that that."

Itachi quietly set Sasuke down at the base of a tree. "Would you like to spar, Kagome?" he asked.

"For old times' sake. Let's see how far you've come, Itachi."

He swiftly wove the hand seals for a shadow clone, following up with an earth-type jutsu while discreetly taking shuriken into his hands. Then he switched himself with his clone.

Kagome made a jump to avoid the earth jutsu as well as doing a rotation kick in mid-air to block the shuriken. She made a single hand seal and yelled out, _"Jishin!"_

Itachi quickly doused the soil with a water jutsu before Kagome landed, her foot creating only a slick squishy sound instead of the giant roar she'd been going for, but she still sent tremors through the ground. A giant crater yawned wide open underneath Itachi's feet, the soft mud sucking his feet down. He kicked free and performed a fire jutsu to dry the earth.

Kagome jumped out of the mud into one of the trees surrounding the clearing, using a simple cleaning technique Sesshomaru taught her to use in case she ever got too dirty in battle.

Itachi created two more shadow clones while she cleaned herself up and directed them to sneak behind her. He hid his clones' chakra to take her by surprise.

Unfortunately he didn't know that Kagome had been taught to seek out a person's aura, not their chakra. She turned on the branch and summoned her sword out of her tattoo, slashing straight through the clones when they attempted to attack her. Itachi sent a water jutsu towards her while her back was turned, as well as rigging a kunai trap into the trees.

Kagome dodged to another branch to escape the water jutsu. Itachi darted towards her, a single small shuriken gripped in between the fingers of his right hand. Kagome easily saw him coming and raised her sword to slash at him.

Itachi used the _Shunshin no Jutsu_ to get behind her and knock the sword from her hands. He flung the single shuriken to trigger his kunai trap. Kagome heard the whistling of the ninja knives and used a series of gymnastic moves to escape, leaving the mass of kunai to extirpate the tree she'd been formerly occupying.

Her brother followed up with a flurry of taijutsu strikes, a spin kick there, a punch combo here. Kagome dodged them all and struck back, luring Itachi into a beautiful, wild, deadly dance.

Spin, kick, dodge, kick, duck, punch, block, strike, strike, kick, jump . . . Kagome once again used _Jishin_ and cracked the ground open, nearly burying Itachi alive under tons of root and soil. However, he used a teleportation jutsu to escape. When he was safely outside the perimeter of the devastating crater, he performed a genjutsu to entrap Kagome in.

Kagome secretly summoned a special _ofuda_ from her sealing tattoo. She slapped it on the ground and channeled her power into it. "Genjutsu begone!"

Itachi was blown off his feet as a fierce wind swept through the area, eliminating his genjutsu. He was about to get up when the sharp edge of a sword was drawn across his throat. He looked up to meet Kagome's meticulous blue eyes, shining down at him triumphantly. "I win, Itachi."

"You've gotten stronger," he remarked, reaching a hand up to push the blade away from his throat.

She sealed the sword back into her tattoo and stood back to allow Itachi to stand up. "I remember you always used to beat me in spars when we were little," she said. "Now I'm the one who beats you." She grinned.

"Now that we have properly evaluated each other's skills, I have to ask you: what happened to you?" Itachi asked, looking down at her. "You disappeared from Konoha without so much as a clue."

Kagome's eyes darkened with rage. "You know who Orochimaru is, don't you?" she spat.

"What did he do to you?" Itachi growled, muscles tensing when he heard the traitor's name.

"Orochimaru has a distant cousin named Naraku," Kagome explained. "Naraku is the one who kidnapped me. He wanted to experiment on me, to break me and make me into his perfect puppet –" Itachi could barely contain his rage "– because he was afraid of me, of the power that I inherited from our ancestor Midoriko."

"You escaped."

"I had help. My teacher, Sesshomaru-sensei, rescued me from that place. I have been living with him since. I want you to come and live with me again. I have missed you quite a bit, but my friends there make it bearable."

"Where?"

"It is in a peaceful valley that is close to Lightning Country . . . we call the land of the valley the _Western Lands_, because Sesshomaru-sensei rules over that place. There are also the _Northern Mountains_, the _Southern Plains_, and the _Eastern Forests_."

Itachi studied her closely. "Is it safe there? You know I am an S-class criminal. I am constantly hunted," he said.

"Do not worry. I will never think any less of you, even if you did kill our clan. I've been missing for the last twelve years; therefore I hold hardly any more ties to Konoha or the clan. The only thing I keep in mind is my two ancestors, whose powers have been passed down to me. Anyhow, there is a reason that no one except the inhabitants of the valley are able to get into the valley and the surrounding regions. We have to get you registered into the area coding, then you are safe. Anyone who tries to impersonate will not be allowed. Agreed?"

Itachi contemplated a little more. He finally came to a conclusion.

"I accept."

* * *

**Woo-hoo, three-day weekend! This chapter was, for lack of better word . . . tiring. Nine pages. I suck at fight scenes, but hopefully this was a better fight scene than before (for those of you who can somehow remember it). The original version had Kagome fighting Sasuke and Itachi at the same time. I decided to do the one-on-one battling for the revised edition. By the way, the song Kagome plays belongs to me too. I made it up on the spot. Hehehe. Well, happy Martin Luther King Jr. weekend! Toodles.**

**Translations**

**Chidori – 1000 birds**

**Jishin - earthquake**

**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu – Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique**

**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu – Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Technique**

**Katon: Karyuu Endan – Fire Style: Fire Dragon Missile Technique**

**Kawa no Hebi – River of Snakes**

**Kinboshi no Budou – Vines of Venus**

**Ofuda – a type of sealing paper that monks and priests used to ward off demons**

**Otouto – little brother**

**Ryuu no Dogou – Roar of the Dragon**

**Shunshin no Jutsu – Teleportation Technique**

**Teme – a rude way to say "you"**

**See you later,**

**MangaFreak15**


	5. Chapter 5: Initiation and Introduction

**Modified: Feb. 4, 2010**

**Thank you, thank you. I have skimmed over the original version and realized I seemed to have severely diverged from the plot in that version. The whole point of this story was for Team Seven to find Kagome, bring her back to Konoha to help them defeat Orochimaru, and defeat Naraku somewhere later. However, I messed with Kagome and made her into some super-powered angel person. I was like "what the fuck was I thinking?" when I read that part over again. So here is the newest chapter.**

**From here on out, **_**Wanton Faith**_** will be different from its original story.**

**Previous Story Status:**

**Chapters: 4**

**Reviews: 316**

**Words: 10751**

**Hits: 5784**

**C2s: 15**

**Favs: 113**

**Alerts: 189**

**Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister, and Konoha's only salvation. The problem is locating her first.**

**Note: For the sake of this story, Sasuke did not leave to Orochimaru and Inuyasha never fell in love with Kikyo. I know that "Sesshomaru" is supposed to be spelled "Sesshoumaru" but it's easier to skip the doubling. The original spelling of "Tetsusaiga" is "Tessaiga", but I will use "Tetsusaiga".**

**Warning: Language**

**Pairings: None (ItaKag is purely platonic/family)**

* * *

**Wanton Faith**

**Ch. 5**

**Initiation and Introduction**

* * *

It was dark. His head hurt. His neck hurt. His body felt oddly sore. His eyelids seemed to be glued down. The drowsiness of blissful oblivion appeared not to have fully lifted its hellish grip from him. Deep within the recesses of his mind, he drummed over his most recent memories, a fierce battle with his long-lost older sister Uchiha Higurashi Kagome. Fuck, she was strong. It gave him a thrill knowing that he'd had such a good challenge. He hadn't been able to fight with everything he had to give ever since his brutal battle with Naruto that somehow ended up in a tie, if only by a hair's width (he pointedly ignored the fact that Naruto's Rasengan had blown the back of the water tank out of proportion). My, my, Uchiha Kagome was quite strong indeed. If she wasn't his sister, he would gladly consider a potential future wife. The only problem was that she loved Itachi more than him, that despicable, no-good murderer . . . hm, someone appeared to be invading his space. Who would _dare_ poke the great Uchiha Sasuke?

_Poke. Prod, prod. Poke._

"Yo, teme! You dead or something?"

Fucking Naruto. Of course he wasn't dead.

"Oi, Sasuke-teme. I'm serious. Wake the hell up!"

_Prod, prod, prod . . . TWITCH._

"Hey, he _is_ alive! Sasuke, wake up, man!"

Sasuke groaned quite audibly and struggled to lift his eyelids. His vision was hazy at best, though it soon cleared up to reveal a grinning Naruto mere inches from his face. "If you poke me one more time, I'm going to roast your moronic face," he hissed through gritted teeth.

Naruto sat back, looking offended. "Hey, hey, I was just trying to wake you up," he protested. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder, where Kakashi was leaning against a tree with Sakura beside him, who was casting dirty glances at Naruto. "Besides, Sakura could've woken you up instead."

Sasuke wisely chose not to reply. Instead he gingerly rose to his feet, one hand snaking behind his head to glide over his neck. "Damn, she sure did a number on me," he grumbled.

"Who, Uchiha Kagome?" Naruto asked. He grinned. "Heh, you got your ass beat by a girl, teme. That sure proves that girls can be strong if they try."

"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke mumbled, shaking his head perfunctorily to shake out the remaining dirt.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" Sakura inquired, going over to them.

"I'm fine. I want a rematch with her."

His answer startled the rest of his team. "Dude, you want another ass-whooping?" Naruto whistled. "Good luck, teme."

"Naruto, use better language," Sakura sighed, lightly smacking him over the head.

"Kakashi, do you know where they went?" Sasuke asked his teacher, who had straightened his pose.

"We had a little trouble finding you, so by the time we arrived they were gone. Pakkun, hopefully, will be able to track their scents down to an exact location," Kakashi answered. "However, remember our first priority is to bring Kagome back to Konoha to help us defeat Orochimaru's battalions."

Sasuke grudgingly stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Fine. Let's just get this over with so my rematch with her can come sooner," he said.

* * *

Itachi stared, mystified. Apparently the entrance to the valley was through a gargantuan forest that had four strange seals plastered at the front of the path.

"The seals are there to reinforce a barrier against intruders. They are charged specially with Miroku's powers, therefore cannot be harmed or peeled away in any manner except by Miroku himself," Kagome explained.

"Who is Miroku?" Itachi asked, a small coil of apprehension curling in his abdomen. She better not say fiancé, because come hell or high water, Itachi would beat the crap out of him (secretly, of course, secretly).

"He's a good friend of mine who has inherited his ancestral spiritual powers."

A good friend, it seemed this Miroku was. Kagome made no mention or visible sign that this Miroku was anything more than a good friend, but one could not be absolutely certain . . . Itachi decided to take precautions.

"Are you engaged to anyone, Kagome?"

If you step into a lion's den, you better hope not to get your head cleaved off. Itachi thought for sure that being blunt with his long-lost sister would bring him some answers, however subtle they may be. Perhaps Itachi was getting rusty about smooth-talking.

" . . . No."

Itachi's sharpened senses caught the small pause of hesitation produced briefly before the aforementioned answer. "That isn't a whole truth, is it?" he accused lightly, daring not to incur the wrath of a sleeping lioness.

"It . . . it's nothing," she muttered, turning her attention to the sealed entrance. "Forget about it."

The seals glowed blue in response to Kagome's spiritual energy. "Give me your hand," she said to her twin.

The smaller, more slender hand that gripped his larger hand was warm. Itachi could faintly sense a steady, rhythmic pulse singing throughout the pale flesh that curled around his fingers, reminding him that this wasn't a dream at all. She placed his hand on the thin film of translucent blue that shimmered outward from the barrier seals.

The first crackle of blue energy stung him venomously. Letting out a small gasp of pain, he clenched his teeth together to prevent himself from screaming. Kagome quietly hushed him and whispered comforting words under her breath as she worked through the initiation process.

A myriad of color flashed before them, the stinging tendrils of spiritual energy climbing his limbs and plunging into the cavity of his chest. He felt as though his heart and lungs were being squeezed by a continuous pressure. He wanted to rip himself away from the pain, but his body would not obey him. Kagome's grip on his hand remained strong in order to support him, but the flesh-on-flesh contact also worked as a transition point for the spiritual ki to pass into his body.

However, what stung the most were his eyes. Oh, the pain! He squeezed his eyes shut, his knees buckling enough for him to hit the ground, a small cry rising from his throat. It felt as though multiple daggers were stabbing him in the eyeballs, the sharp tips pricking him again and again.

Finally there was a thin beam of pure white light that shined from all the seals and directly into his heart. Itachi viciously suppressed a furious whimper that rose halfway from his throat as a protection seal was carved into the flesh directly above his heart. Then the white beam faded, the energy dissipated, the intense feeling of overwhelming, mind-numbing pain disappearing. At last it was over.

"You did well, Itachi," Kagome bent her knees a little and helped him back to his feet. Itachi staggered a little, off balance due to his fried nerves attempting to gain some semblance of control back. "That only lasted about twenty-five minutes, so you should be fine after an hour's worth of sleep. Come on. Let's get you inside."

Itachi did not protest.

* * *

"Did you feel that?"

"Yeah, someone activated the barrier. I bet my ass that was Kagome."

"Haha-ue's back, then."

"I wonder who she was initiating. Probably the brother she set out to find."

"That is probably the case."

"Let's go introduce ourselves to the brother. I wonder if he's cute."

"Sango . . ."

"I'm kidding, Miroku, you're my partner forever."

"Hey, save the mushy crap for later. Let's go already."

"You didn't complain before. It's not like Haha-ue's going to run away, Inuyasha."

"Quiet, runt."

"I'm not a runt!"

* * *

Kagome and Itachi were among the outskirts of the forest entrance when a long shadow fell over them. Itachi lifted his dark eyes to the tall, regal figure standing imposingly before them, a narrow gold gaze leveled at them.

"Sensei," Kagome greeted, half-heartedly lifting her left arm in a small greeting.

"You are back." The man's passive voice swept through the air. Itachi immediately sensed the quiet bulk of power that hummed through the man's entire figure, his posture clearly showing that he was an experienced fighter and could kick someone's ass seven ways to Sunday. "Is this your brother?"

"Yes. Sensei, meet my twin brother Uchiha Itachi. He is a bit tired from the initiation. Please set up an extra bed in my room for him to sleep in." Itachi nearly flinched from shock as Sesshomaru reappeared in front of him in a split second. _He's fast! Even more so than the late Yondaime,_ Itachi realized.

Sesshomaru took Itachi from Kagome's grasp. "He is part of the Bijuu-collecting organization Akatsuki," he said, observing the cloak. "We will have none of that trash in here." In one clean slice, he split the black and red cloak from top to bottom. He handed the fabric to Kagome and stated, "Burn it" before rearranging himself and Itachi into a compressed ball of light particles and zooming towards his castle.

* * *

The youngest occupant of the Western Lands castle, a young fox demon named Shippo, was the first to spot the trademark ball of light that Sesshomaru used to travel long distances quickly. "I see him!" he shouted excitedly, hopping on the window sill and waving.

Miroku caught him before he fell off the sill. "Careful there, Shippo," he said, setting the boy down on the floor. "Wouldn't want you to get hurt and have Kagome practice her powers on me because I let you get hurt."

Sesshomaru entered the room and the light disappeared, revealing him standing next to a stranger. Sango eyed the unknown man appreciatively. She grinned devilishly and said, "I was right. He _is_ cute."

"Sango . . ." Miroku sighed.

The female fighter laughed. "Oh, Miroku, you know I'm kidding around. I can appreciate handsome males when I see them, but it doesn't mean I'm going to fall in love with them right away you know," she said.

"Can you walk?" Sesshomaru asked the strange man.

"A little," the stranger answered. "I assume Kagome will be here soon. I would like to be placed either in the same room or a room very close by."

"Are you kidding? The woman's a devil! Why would you want to room with her?" Inuyasha said, mouth agape.

Sango smacked her friend over the head. "Idiot! This is Kagome's brother. It would only make sense to get reacquainted after not seeing each other for years," she hissed. "Besides . . ."

Awkward silence ensued as Sango's words trailed off. The room gained a tense atmosphere as the members of the room (excluding Itachi) recognized who she was thinking about. Sango's younger brother Kohaku had been captured by Naraku three years ago. When they finally got him back around half a year ago, he had no memories. She was almost split in half when he apologetically repeated that he didn't know who she was. Even to this day, Kohaku had yet to regain his memories.

Sesshomaru turned to the door and opened it, calling sharply, "Jaken!"

Itachi's eyebrows faintly rose as a tiny, green, toad-like creature with bulbous yellow eyes waddled up to the door quickly, croaking, "Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?"

Sesshomaru's narrow gaze caught Itachi's tired one and he growled, "I hope I can trust you not to try anything in my castle."

"Despite the crimes I have committed, I would never voluntarily cause harm to my sister if I could help it," Itachi replied truthfully.

Sesshomaru nodded in approval and looked back at the waiting servant. "Jaken, set up an extra bed in Kagome's room for her brother," he ordered.

The toad bowed and scurried away to complete the task immediately.

Inuyasha crossed his arms across his chest, eyeballing Itachi with a look that was bordering on a glare. "You may be Kagome's brother, but I don't trust you," he said. "I'll be making sure you don't hurt Kagome, because if you do, you are going to meet my Tetsusaiga."

Itachi closed his eyes to help reduce his slowly building headache. "Very well. I will prove that I have no intentions of harming Kagome or anyone in this valley," he murmured.

"So what's your story?" Sango inquired, walking over to him, motioning for Sesshomaru to set him down in a chair.

"I have committed crimes I am not fond of, if only to protect my younger brother," Itachi said. "However, I alone couldn't protect him. He nearly fell into the hands of a man I loathe, but his rival, the jinchuuriki I was assigned to hunt, helped him from that path of darkness. I failed to protect Kagome, and I failed Sasuke too."

"So you're a typical older brother," Inuyasha snorted.

Shippo peered at the tired young man and whispered, "Let's ask the rest of our questions later. He looks really tired."

They nodded. Jaken poked his head into the room, croaking, "The extra bed has been arranged in Kagome-sama's room as you have requested, Sesshomaru-sama."

"Good. You're dismissed."

The little toad nodded and disappeared around the door. The quiet slap of his webbed feet against the wooden floors grew faint as he disappeared down the corridor.

By then Itachi was only half-conscious. Even his honed shinobi skills couldn't resist the temptation of sleep. When Inuyasha picked him up and slung him over one shoulder, Itachi didn't complain.

The group made their way down the hallway to a majestic set of polished double doors with a giant carving of the three kanji for "guardian" engraved in the otherwise relatively smooth wood. Sesshomaru turned the handle on the door to open it.

However Itachi did not get beyond seeing a basic outline of the room, for his eyelids finally dropped and his tired mind allowed itself to rest.

Inuyasha dumped Itachi on to the extra bed that had been set up next to Kagome's in one of the far corners. The group then left the room, quietly closing the door behind them, and giving Itachi time to slumber. They would evaluate his skills later.

Not too long later the door again opened, admitting a person in. She approached the bed where Itachi slept, her fingers gently tracing over the smooth curve of his left cheek. The bed itself was a standard size, big enough for one person, but too small for two people to fit comfortably.

Kagome used the construction ability of her powers to meld the two beds together, along with the sheets and covers. She slid under the covers next to her twin, pressing her face against the strong arch of his back and inhaling his grass and smoke scent. Smiling to herself, she drifted off to sleep next to her twin. They were reunited at last.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait. This has been an absolutely disastrous week for me. Monday, I get slammed in the head by a basketball, found out I did extra homework, walked home. Tuesday, I find out that I have two big tests on Wednesday, my quiz score was marked 27/50 when it should have been 45/50 (that was fixed), my History project was also due Wednesday as well as the textbook questions for another class, walked home. Wednesday, I had the two tests, colored my History project a little before turning it in, went over some kinetic molecular theory and other things I didn't exactly understand, got stuck on the same team in P.E. with two people I didn't like (one is a stalker/creepy person, the other is a whiny bitch), walked home. Today, I am officially stuck with the two people I don't like for the rest of the P.E. unit of basketball, found out I have a quiz on part of WWI tomorrow, learned a bunch of kanji that I forgot half the time, found out that I had much more homework than I anticipated, nearly got beaned in the face with a basketball, and other things that I won't say in detail, and I walked home again. On top of it all, I am partially sick. So yes, you're lucky you even got a chapter from this pissed-off author that isn't a bunch of crap.**

**Translations**

**Akatsuki – dawn**

**Bijuu – tailed beast**

**Haha-ue – used when talking about your own mother**

**Jinchuuriki – human sacrifice**

**Rasengan – Spiral Chakra Sphere**

**Sensei – teacher; lit. "someone born ahead of you"**

**Teme – a rude way to say "you"**

**Tetsusaiga/Tessaiga – Steel Cleaving Fang**

**Yondaime – Fourth Generation**

**See you later,**

**MangaFreak15**


	6. Chapter 6: Sealing Negotiations

**Written: Feb. 13, 2010**

**Chapter the sixth is here. Enjoy.**

**Previous Story Status:**

**Chapters: 5**

**Reviews: 318**

**Words: 14161**

**Hits: 6352**

**C2s: 15**

**Favs: 114**

**Alerts: 191**

**Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister, and Konoha's only salvation. The problem is locating her first.**

**Note: For the sake of this story, Sasuke did not leave to Orochimaru and Inuyasha never fell in love with Kikyo. I know that "Sesshomaru" is supposed to be spelled "Sesshoumaru" but it's easier to skip the doubling. The original spelling of "Tetsusaiga" is "Tessaiga", but I will use "Tetsusaiga".**

**Warning: Language**

**Pairings: None (ItaKag is purely platonic/family)**

* * *

**Wanton Faith**

**Ch. 6**

**Sealing Negotiations**

* * *

An unfamiliar wall greeted his sight when he awoke from his healing slumber. The fog in his mind slowly cleared, leaving him to regain bits and pieces of his memory. A spar with Kagome. An abrupt shock of pain. A strange group of people. Sleep . . .

He felt abnormally warm. He could feel someone's warmth washing over him, mainly from his back. Someone was pressed against him, the sound of the person's deep, steady breathing ghosting past the shell of his ear. Slender limbs were resting against his back, folded delicately and pulled more to the person's chest. Already he could guess who was sleeping next to him. His twin. Kagome.

He shifted around so he was facing her, reaching out a hand from the warm covers to touch her cheek. She was definitely real. He wasn't hallucinating. And she was warm.

Itachi watched as her eyelids fluttered, an indication that she was waking. The thin lids moved up, exposing sleep-muddled blue eyes that didn't quite see him in front of her yet. She yawned, she stretched, and she buried herself underneath the covers once more, burying her face into Itachi's shirt. The fishnet at the top did not bother her in the least.

Itachi slowly sat up, leaning back against the black headboard. Kagome made a small noise of discontent as her main source of warmth left, so she curled up against Itachi's thigh and rested her head against his side. They hadn't slept together like this in so long; Itachi had nearly forgotten what it was like to share a bed with someone when you weren't intending on intimacy.

For now he could make himself content with the knowledge that she took comfort in him. For now she was all he needed. She was all that mattered.

The pleasant silence, only broken by a few shuffles or snuggles here and there, was interrupted as the door opened.

Itachi recognized the entering person as the female who'd been joking around yesterday. He didn't know her name. It could have been mentioned earlier, but he had been too tired to think.

"Hey, you're awake," she said, grinning. "We'd like to test your skills as a shinobi to find out your key points and weak points. As soon as you're ready, have Kagome show you to the dojo, alright?"

Itachi nodded. The female approached the bed and held out her hand, "By the way, my name's Sango. My partner and I will be facing you in the first round. We'll be testing you on your ability to fight multiple enemies at once. I look forward to fighting you."

Her hand was as warm as Kagome's. She shook his hand vigorously. Itachi noted how strong her grip was and assumed that she was used to fighting and holding heavy objects.

Kagome slowly ascended from the depths of slumber and muttered groggily, "Sango?"

Sango leaned over to look at her friend, who was sitting up and rubbing the last traces of sleep from her eyes. "You're awake, Kagome? Good. I was just saying to your brother that we were going to test his skills. You want to watch?"

"Sure. I sparred with him before we came here and I defeated him, but a spar isn't a full-scale battle, so I'd assume we both weren't doing our best."

"You don't mind going at least eighty percent of your full strength, do you?" Sango asked Itachi. "In order for us to get a good grasp of your abilities, you need to at least fight at eighty percent or higher."

Itachi inclined his head, "Very well."

"He'll get a break between rounds, right?" Kagome said, sliding off the bed and stretching, her joints popping with sharp cracks.

"Of course. I doubt your brother would be able to take me and Miroku, then Inuyasha, then Sesshomaru all in a row," Sango laughed.

Kagome smirked. "You'd be surprised at what he could do."

"We'll just have to find out."

Just then Miroku came in. "Someone is trying to interfere with the barrier. Sango, Kagome, will you come with me to deal with them?"

The two females looked at each other. "I believe it's Kakashi and his group of genin. How annoying," Kagome sighed. "Come on, let's go deal with them."

* * *

"Over here."

"This is where their scents stop?"

"Yeah. It lingers in this area and disappears beyond that barrier there."

"I see. From the looks of it, the barrier is a seal type, meaning that if you destroy the seals, you'll be able to get in."

"Those aren't ordinary seals, you know?"

"So what? Let's just tear them off."

"Stop it, Naruto," Kakashi said sharply to his student, who scowled back at him. "Those seals are special. They appear to be charged with some of energy. It's not chakra."

"You mean like that energy she uses, right?" Sasuke said.

Kakashi peered closely at the strange writing on the seals. "The force field itself is created through the generation of spiritual energy and symbol activation. Here, these seals represent the directions of north, east, south, and west. A person channels their natural energy through their body and applies it to the seals. Depending on the writing, the seal will store the energy to fulfill its purpose," he explained the best he could. Ninja were more physical fighters than spiritual; therefore it was difficult for a ninja to achieve full spiritual knowledge unless they'd been born with it like Kagome had. Spiritual fighters are similar to religious figures in a way, much like the cycle to achieve _nirvana._ However, the pure powers of the _miko_, the Shinto priestess, could only be activated in its truest form when battling against demons. They are more effective against real demons, not huge concentrations of evil chakra that make up the nine Bijuu that ninjas call "demons".

"Ha! No wimpy barrier is going to stop me!" Naruto crowed, taking a giant step forward towards the barrier . . .

"Naruto, no!"

Kakashi acted quickly to save his foolish young student from the complete agony of purification. He bent down low on his right knee and swung his left leg out in a straight arc that caught Naruto's heel and knocked him on his back, barely a few inches away from the barrier.

"Kakashi-sensei, why'd you do that?" Naruto growled, gingerly getting back on his feet as he rubbed his head where it hit the ground.

Kakashi whispered quietly in Naruto's ear so the other genin wouldn't hear, "The fox inside of you is especially susceptible to spiritual energy. If you had taken one foot inside that barrier, you would have died very painfully." He stood back up. Naruto only saw dead seriousness in his teacher's eyes and he shivered as a cold chill ran down his spine. _Gulp._

"Sorry," he murmured, his head hanging in shame that he hadn't thought of it sooner. But as soon as his chin hit his chest, it shot right back up. "I'm not going to die. I'm going to be the Hokage one day!"

Kakashi smiled. At least he had optimism.

"I knew it was you."

The four ninjas turned towards the barrier as it wavered. Two women and a man emerged. Their expressions were _not_ amused.

Sasuke's eyes glittered as he saw Kagome standing in front of him with her arms crossed. "Uchiha Kagome," he spoke up, catching their attention. "I want a rematch with you."

While Kagome raised an eyebrow at her little brother's bold challenge, the other woman began to laugh quietly. "Kid, you're never going to be a match for Kagome."

Sakura glared at her. "How do you know?" she said. "You've never seen Sasuke fight! He's one of the best in Konoha!"

"You're dreaming, little girl," Kagome said. "Sasuke is only a genin. There are many Chuunin, Jounin, and ANBU who are undoubtedly much more skilled than he is."

Sakura flushed angrily.

"Kakashi, if I understand correctly, your mission is to bring me back to Konoha to help you defeat Orochimaru," Kagome stated.

The Jounin nodded.

"However, I have no more ties left to Konoha to warrant any kind of promise or priority," Kagome said. "If you want help, you're going to have to prove that you're serious about wanting to save Konoha."

"Just tell us how!" Naruto burst out. "We can handle anything! I . . . I can't just stand around and watch as my home is destroyed by that man. All my friends are back there. My dream is back there too. My past, present, and future are all there in Konoha. It's my home, and I want to protect it. I'll do anything to keep it standing."

"Kagome, I think he's really serious," Miroku cut in.

"We will have to discuss this with the others though. I can't save Konoha by myself," Kagome replied.

"Name your price. I'm sure we can handle it," Sasuke said.

Kagome scooted closer to Sango and Miroku and murmured, "What do you think? A month's time? Two?"

"In two months that ninja village might be done for," Miroku said. "In one month's time, we should be able to gather enough allies to help us. I know you don't have any ties left with Konoha, but saving people's lives is a good cause, don't you think?"

"One month it is."

Kagome turned back to where the Konoha team was waiting expectantly. "Give us one month to prepare," she said. "In exactly one month, our forces will march for Konoha and hopefully salvage what's left of your little village. Meanwhile, you should go back and help while you still can. Time is of the essence, they say."

"Thank you." Kakashi bowed. Their team turned around and headed back towards Konoha, mindful of their small victory.

One month. They could wait that long.

* * *

When the trio came back to the castle, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Shippo, and Itachi were waiting for them in the foyer. "What did they want?" Sesshomaru queried.

"I made a deal with them," Kagome answered. "Their mission was to bring me back to Konoha to help them destroy Orochimaru. I told them that I'd gather as many allies as possible and head there in one month."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Inuyasha said loudly, waving his arms wildly. "How could you make a deal with those wimps?"

"Come on, Inuyasha," Sango said. "You finally get someone to fight without worrying about beating them up too badly."

"But they're weaklings! I want a challenge!" he protested sulkily.

"You know you're quite welcome to simply stay behind while we go off and do all the fighting," Kagome said.

Inuyasha shut up quicker than you could say "sit."

"Great. Now, we should plan on who we want to be our allies when we march on Konoha to destroy Orochimaru," Kagome suggested, looking at them all. "Itachi and I will go down south to find the _Shichinintai_ group."

"Miroku and I will head north to talk to Kouga, the leader of the wolf-demon tribes up there," Sango said.

"Hey! What about me?" Inuyasha growled.

"You can stay here and train," Kagome said, grinning. "You too, Shippo."

"Okay, Haha-ue!" Shippo said.

"Feh!" Inuyasha snorted and turned away. "Fine."

"We'll be back in a month or less," Kagome said, motioning for Itachi to follow her. "Sensei, you and everyone . . . stay safe!"

The people in the entrance hall watched as Kagome and Itachi set off to find the _Shichinintai._ Their backs, standing tall and proud in a similar fashion that indicated their family resemblance, disappeared from view in a few minutes.

"Well, we can't just stand around either," Sango said, rotating her arm a bit and cracking her neck. "We've got to prepare to. Let's go pack, Miroku."

And they were left to their own devices for another month.

* * *

**Ah. It's been a while, hasn't it? I just decided to finish this chapter to get it out of the way so we could get to the good stuff. Happy Valentine's Day! Well, actually it's a day early, but still! And also, have a happy Chinese New Year if you celebrate it!**

**Translations**

**Bijuu – tailed beast**

**Haha-ue – used when talking about your own mother**

**Hokage – Fire Shadow**

**Miko – Shinto priestess**

**Sensei – teacher; lit. "someone born ahead of you"**

**Shichinintai – Band of Seven**

**See you later,**

**MangaFreak15**


	7. Chapter 7: Seven Assassins of the South

**Written: April 14, 2010**

**Ugh. I had such a hard time writing this because I became obsessed with One Piece. Sorry for the wait. I suck at fighting scenes, but hopefully you don't think it's too bad. I tried.**

**Previous Story Status:**

**Chapters: 6**

**Reviews: 326**

**Words: 16740**

**Hits: 9603**

**C2s: 17**

**Favs: 135**

**Alerts: 220**

**Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister, and Konoha's only salvation. The problem is locating her first.**

**Note: For the sake of this story, Sasuke did not leave to Orochimaru and Inuyasha never fell in love with Kikyo. I know that "Sesshomaru" is supposed to be spelled "Sesshoumaru" but it's easier to skip the doubling. The original spelling of "Tetsusaiga" is "Tessaiga", but I will use "Tetsusaiga".**

**Warning: Language**

**Pairings: None (ItaKag is purely platonic/family)**

* * *

**Wanton Faith**

**Ch. 7**

**The Seven Assassins of the South**

* * *

It took a couple days traveling at a decent speed to reach the Southern Plains where the Shichinintai resided. The holy people of the village pleaded for them not to venture into the wicked forest, for they would be found and easily killed by the mercenaries. "When you anger the Shichinintai, it is almost as if you were angering the Gods," the head priest solemnly told them. "They are merciless and will raze minor villages such as ours to the ground."

Kagome and Itachi took no heed of their pleas. There was no such indication that they'd even been heard and processed.

"There is no point in wasting courage when all you have to do is fight them."

And so the duo entered the forest, prepared for anyone and anything.

Meanwhile, intruder detectors placed at the entrance of the forest sent silent signals to a single, lone castle in the center of the forest. The occupants heard the soft beeping of their signal detector.

"Someone has entered our forest."

"Fools. Who dares?"

"A man and a woman. They seem to be of similar heritage."

Someone smirked. Another laughed quietly.

"Well, I'll be damned! If that isn't Uchiha Itachi, I'll eat my sword."

"He's hot. If only that woman was out of the picture."

"Please don't say such things here."

"Pah, what do I care what you think?"

"In any case, they look to be here for business if they heed not the words of the village elder."

"Let's give them a warm welcome, shall we?"

"Yes. This is what we'll do . . ."

* * *

Kagome and Itachi had been walking for some time and had yet to detect traces of anyone in the forest. "Are you sure they are here, Kagome?" Itachi asked, subtly scanning the foliage for any signs of danger.

"Without a doubt," she answered. "This is where they live."

Suddenly seven chakra-auras appeared to their senses. Kagome reacted as she normally would; her body flared white and sent out seven bursts of energy, honing in on her targets.

A giant halberd spun through the air and collided with every blast, dissipating them on contact. The huge steel blade continued to spin quickly towards the duo. Kagome ducked to avoid being decapitated while Itachi substituted himself with a log.

The halberd smashed through several trees and continued to rotate until it was finally stopped when it hit a tree awkwardly and sunk into the ground.

Itachi knew instantly that whoever had thrown that halberd was _dangerous_. The Shichinintai were not necessarily "ninjas", but they utilized chakra for their abilities and attacks. However, the strength of that throw was _insane_.

Next, something whizzed out of the bushes from their left and headed towards Kagome's neck, aiming to kill her. She fused her fist with spiritual energy and aimed a small blast at the oncoming attack. The burst of energy knocked the attack away, revealing a long set of curved swords that snapped back into the bushes. A slightly high-pitched, but sinister laugh rang through the forest.

"My, my, the little bitch dodged it," the voice said. Heavy footsteps echoed in the foliage. The ground began to shake as the shadow of something huge appeared above the trees.

Itachi and Kagome both watched as a giant of a man came into view, his sharp teeth glinting in the light.

His large hands swept down to crush the duo into the earth. Kagome stepped to the side and rotated her wrist.

"_Tatsumaki!"_

A miniature tornado whirled to life on her palm. She swung her arm in a wide arc, sending the small tornado towards the giant hand. It grew huge quickly and sent the giant flying over the treetops, crash-landing elsewhere with an enormous boom that rocked the earth and shook the little village at the edge of the forest.

There was an exclamation of surprise from somewhere on the right: "Damn, that woman sent Kyokotsu flying! No ordinary person could do that!"

Itachi flung a handful of kunai in that direction. His eyes narrowed when he caught the sound of metal clashing against metal. A man walked out, flexing the clawed gloves fixed on his hands. He crouched, his arms crossing like an X, and then charged.

Itachi quickly made the correct hand seals and put his index finger and thumb together in front of his mouth. _"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"_

The man made a surprised face as a huge fireball flew from Itachi's mouth, "Whoa! A ninja!"

"_Kinboshi no Budou!"_

Vines sprouted from the ground and hoisted the man into the air as he dodged the fireball. However one swipe of his claws slashed through them easily. He landed on the ground, grinning in a feral manner.

Kagome quickly spotted a young man running towards the halberd. She took an archer's stance and aimed for him, _"Ya no Mizu!"_

The young man easily hefted the halberd from the soil and blocked Kagome's attack. He grasped the handle firmly and charged, swinging the giant sword. Kagome, seeing that if she moved Itachi would be in the path of danger, pushed Itachi forward with her back while her hands came up to intercept the blade.

Itachi stumbled a bit when Kagome pushed him and the man in front of him took the opportunity to strike. Itachi saw the move out of the corner of his eye and brought up a kunai to block the claws. When the man struck with the other set of claws, Itachi ducked under the blow and performed an upwards kick on the man's chin, sending the man's neck cracking back, but not breaking.

A bald man riding a tank man came crashing through the trees to their left. He took a sip from his canteen and blew fire out towards them. Itachi dodged to the side, only to realize in horror that the flames were heading towards his sister.

"Kagome!" he shouted, speeding towards her as she clashed with the man wielding a halberd.

Kagome turned her head to see the oncoming flames. She grasped the edge of the halberd and, careful not to cut her hands on the sharp edge, used the halberd as a vaulting point to fly over the man's head. She turned in mid-air and performed an axe-kick strike on the man's head. He moved to the side. Kagome's attack missed, and left her wide open to the oncoming flames.

She placed her wrists together with the palms facing outward like a cannon, _"Mizu Hou!"_

A powerful burst of water shot from her hands and extinguished the flames quickly. Itachi let out a small sigh of relief before turning his attention back to his enemies. He made three exploding clones and switched himself with a rock. When the tank man fired on one of his clones, he smirked.

_BOOM!_

The explosion caught the two by surprise. The man Kagome was fighting shouted, "Renkotsu! Ginkotsu!"

A weak cough sounded from the smoke that eased the man's fears a little, "We're okay, Bankotsu-aniki."

Kagome leaped into the air to avoid a furious strike from Bankotsu. She concentrated energy into her foot as she came down, _"Jishin!"_

Bankotsu quickly leaped into the nearest tree when he heard the name of the attack. And it was a good thing he did, too.

_Crack!_ The moment Kagome's foot hit the ground, the earth shook and roared, trembling like the furious stomping of half a thousand giants. Her foot sunk partway into the ground, spider-web cracks leading out from it and splitting the soil open like a knife slicing through butter. Trees swayed and either toppled to the ground with an echoing thud or stayed upright with their roots sticking up from the ground.

"Holy shit!" Bankotsu exclaimed, shivering when he saw the extent of the damage. The rest of the Shichinintai agreed.

Kagome panted harshly. She had put a lot of energy into that one, but it left her a bit drained. Itachi made sure his clones hadn't blown up during the attack before making his way over to his twin.

"Are you alright, Kagome?" he asked quietly.

Kagome took a deep breath, "Yeah, just let me get my breath back. That took a lot of energy to do."

Suddenly the air smelt different. Itachi instantly recognized it as poison. He covered his mouth and nose, sending chakra to his lungs so he could hold out longer. Kagome recognized it too. Despite the pain she felt, she rotated her wrist and create the miniature tornado again.

"_Tatsumaki!"_

The sudden wind blew away all the poison. Itachi uncovered his nose and mouth.

A loud _thwack_ came from the bushes, followed by the angry shouting of "Damn it, Mukotsu, are you trying to kill us too?!"

"Hehehe, sorry about that, Jakotsu."

Bankotsu came down from the trees, hefting his halberd over his shoulder. He smirked cockily at the duo. "So? What brings you two all the way out here to find us?" he asked.

Kagome let herself rest a moment before speaking. "In about a month we will be going to war with Otogakure. We are helped Konoha win against Orochimaru and Naraku. We need all the allies we can get," she said as firmly as she could. "Will you join us?"

"What's in it for us?" Jakotsu asked, coming out of the bushes.

"Name your price," Kagome said. "It has to be something reasonable though."

"Do we get to kill?" the man Itachi was fighting earlier said.

"You get to kill the enemies. I'm sure there are tons," Kagome replied. "As long as you don't kill your allies."

"Heh. It's a deal," Bankotsu said, holding a hand out for her to shake.

She took it . . .

. . . and promptly flushed a little bit red as Bankotsu kissed the top of her hand.

Itachi snarled at him like an overprotective brother would. Kagome pulled her hand away so she could hold him back from killing Bankotsu right then and there.

Bankotsu laughed, "Ahahaha, I'm just kidding! You're really pretty, but I've got no time to settle down."

"You know where Konoha is, correct?" Kagome said. They nodded. "Okay. We'll stay here a while to help you guys boost your abilities before we head back. Sound good?"

"Sure. You gotta teach me how to do that earthquake move of yours," Bankotsu said, referring to the massive destruction move she performed not too long ago.

"It requires a lot of energy to be able to do it as destructive as I did, and it left me partially drained," Kagome said, steadily looking at Bankotsu. "Are you sure you want to learn it?"

"You bet!"

Kagome put her right index finger and middle finger together, a dim white light forming at the end. She pressed her fingers against the bottom of Bankotsu's neck and closed her eyes. Everyone, including Bankotsu and Itachi, wondered what she was doing.

Bankotsu suddenly felt warmth spreading through him, followed by a freezing chill that sent a painful sensation through his body. But he did not pull away.

After a few minutes Kagome's eyes opened and she pulled away.

"What did you do?" Bankotsu asked. "I felt warm, then I felt cold, then there was a lot of painful pricking."

"I gathered up all the energy you stored in your body and converted it into the type of energy needed to perform the attacks I use," Kagome explained. "Now we can begin. In three weeks we will head back to the Western Lands, and at the end of the week after, we'll head to Konoha. For now we will train, both ourselves and you. Understand?"

"Heh. We'll get strong enough to show those wusses what we're made of," Bankotsu chuckled.

"Deal."

* * *

**I feel like this was too short. Do you feel like that too? I'm sorry. Anyways, a chapter is a chapter. Please review, no flames.**

**Translations**

**Aniki – a term used for older brother, usually your own**

**Jishin – Earthquake**

**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu – Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique**

**Kinboshi no Budou – Vines of Venus**

**Mizu Hou – Water Cannon**

**Tatsumaki – Tornado**

**Ya no Mizu – Arrow of Water**

**Until Next Time,**

**MangaFreak15**


	8. Chapter 8: The Beginning of War

**Written: June 23, 2010**

**The battle begins . . .**

**Previous Story Status:**

**Chapters: 7**

**Reviews: 335**

**Words: 19276**

**Hits: 12734**

**C2s: 19**

**Favs: 146**

**Alerts: 241**

**Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister, and Konoha's only salvation. The problem is locating her first.**

**Note: For the sake of this story, Sasuke did not leave to Orochimaru and Inuyasha never fell in love with Kikyo. I know that "Sesshomaru" is supposed to be spelled "Sesshoumaru" but it's easier to skip the doubling. The original spelling of "Tetsusaiga" is "Tessaiga", but I will use "Tetsusaiga".**

**Warning: Language**

**Pairings: None (ItaKag is purely platonic/family)**

* * *

**Wanton Faith**

**Ch. 8**

**The Beginning of War**

* * *

Three weeks passed by in a blur of sweat, blood, and training. Sango and Miroku successfully managed to sway Koga, Lord of the Northern Lands, to their side. Now they were all training to help Konoha beat Oto.

Inuyasha and Bankotsu hit off as rivals right from the beginning. They'd constantly get into childish fights ever since, but Bankotsu still took his training from Kagome seriously. So far she'd given him the basics and instructions on how to use his new energy. He also discovered that he would have to create new attacks for his halberd now that his new energy didn't react very well when he tried to practice one of his attacks.

"_Rasentatsumaki!"_

Bankotsu turned two full-circles while pointing his halberd outward. Banryuu's keen edge sliced through the air and created a spiral current, which lifted from the ground into five small tornadoes. When Bankotsu stopped spinning, he swept through the air with one stroke from his halberd. The tornadoes flew out in different directions and uprooted trees and soil as they swept through the training area.

Hearing clapping, he stood back up in a straight-back posture. "How was that?" he said, a cocky grin sliding back into place on his face.

"That was great," Kagome said. "You've made a lot of progress and even created your own attacks. You're still not up to my level, but that's because I've been doing this for years. Are you ready to learn _Jishin_?"

Bankotsu nodded vigorously. Finally!

"Okay, the basis for _Jishin_ is what it is: an earthquake. You have to jump into the air and concentrate your energy in the foot you will be using to do the attack. Don't put all your energy in, because you'll exhaust yourself like that. While putting energy in your foot, think about making the ground crack or crumble. You have to do these things before your foot touches the ground, that's why it is one of the harder attacks to do. If you're unable to do those two things within the limited time, the attack will not work and you'll only end up hurting yourself," Kagome instructed. "In order to help you concentrate on the attack, it is best to shout out the name too. If you want the element of surprise, don't say anything, but most people I would think like to say the name of their attack."

Bankotsu absorbed the info like a sponge. He crouched in a leaping stance, closing his eyes to help heighten his awareness of his energy. He sprung into the air with a high jump, and brought his foot down with a loud "yaaaaaaaah!" His foot met the ground with a crunch, which only made a small crater in the ground.

Kagome covered her light laughter with her hand. "That's definitely not enough energy to produce an earthquake," she said. "Try again until you get it right, but make sure to stop before you run out of energy. Understand?"

"Got it," Bankotsu replied absently.

Kagome sat underneath a tree and watched Bankotsu practice for the rest of the afternoon. By twilight, he was exhausted, and showed it by flopping ungracefully onto the ground. Kagome stood up and walked over to him. "You did well today. I'm sure you'll be ready by the time the month is done," she said, observing the last crater Bankotsu made. It was about six meters in diameter.

"Alright," Bankotsu declared weakly. He started snoring right after that.

The week passed by as quickly as the others. By the end of it, everyone was feeling more powerful than ever and ready to kick some major ninja butt. Bankotsu and his team were all dressed in their formal battle attire, while the main Western Land fighters were clothed in their traditional battle garments and armor. They would be meeting up with Koga and his troop of fighters at the border of Fire Country.

"Hopefully those ninja dimwits haven't all fallen by now," Inuyasha grumbled. "We better not have wasted an entire month of training so we could save the lot of them."

"But we _are_ saving them," Miroku reminded him.

"Feh!"

"Let's go," Sesshomaru said, striding towards the main door. "The less time we waste, the better."

They bid farewell to Shippo and the palace occupants who were staying to hold down the fort. Sango and Miroku temporarily released the seals on the entrance so they could pass through, then sealed it again. Kagome gripped her clothing tight as she thought about who she would be fighting.

_Naraku . . . today you'll die by my hand,_ she thought.

Painful memories resurfaced, but she quickly dispelled them. Negativity was something that was not needed at the moment. It would affect her battle morale and she'd be in deep shit if that happened.

They moved quickly to the border thanks to Sesshomaru's instant teleportation. Koga and his band of battle-hardened fighters were already waiting there. "Sesshomaru," he greeted curtly, having never really liked the Western Lord.

"Koga," the silver-haired demon lord replied just as coldly. "For the sake of this battle, we might as well be allies this once."

"Tch. If you had been the one asking, I'd have said no instantly," Koga retorted.

"Koga, please refrain from fighting with Sesshomaru this time," Kagome interjected.

Koga crossed his arms indignantly. "Tch. Fine. For you, dear Kagome," he said, grabbing her hand and kissing it. A dark and malicious aura suddenly came from Itachi. He proceeded to death-glare the lord with his Sharingan. Koga stared back defiantly.

"Fucking wolf-tard," Inuyasha muttered.

"What was that, dog shit?"

"What'd you call me, bastard?"

"I said you're a piece of shit, mutt-face!"

"Flea bag!"

"Shithead!"

"Asshole!"

"Moron!"

"SHUT UP!" Kagome yelled. "If you two are going to fight over such a trivial matter, then we'll leave you behind!"

Inuyasha and Koga noticed that the group was already several meters away. "Wait for us!" they said, running to catch up.

* * *

A distinctive sensation, like any other, is felt with the soul. She felt the exhaustion of days of fighting grinding its heel down on her weary and battered body. But she couldn't give up. She had to stop him. This monster in front of her. She shakily began to arrange what kunai she had left in the slots between her fingers. Her opponent sneered, looking as evil, malicious, and unfazed as ever.

"My, my, still opposing us?" he hissed, his amber eyes narrowing at her. "Why waste your life on this pathetic little village?"

"Because I . . . am . . ." she whispered, closing her eyes to review the memories, ". . . the _Hokage!"_

In the blink of an eye she'd thrown each and every kunai precisely at a vital point, calculating the speed of dodge and what move to follow up with next. The monster laughed. He simply sidestepped the attack and stood there and laughed at her weak attempts to take him down.

"Hokage? Don't make me laugh! My forces are overwhelming yours and you can't do a thing about it! You've lost, Tsunade. Admit it."

"A true leader will never admit defeat," an unknown voice drifted out from the left.

It was then that Tsunade felt the liquid golden warmth of strong hope surge through her deliciously. _They're here,_ she thought, smiling the best she could at the newcomer.

The monster's eyes widened in shock. _"YOU!"_

"Yes, me," the person said, drawing out a sword. "Shall we dance, Orochi-teme?"

Orochimaru's abnormally long tongue lolled out as he grinned wickedly.

"With pleasure, Kagome-san."

* * *

Iruka flopped on the ground, panting harshly. His muscles were screaming at him already. His head spun from blood loss, and chakra exhaustion had already set in. More than a month of brutal fighting and slaughter had taken its toll on him. If another enemy attacked right now, he would surely die. The last thing he thought about was a smiling, cheerful blonde boy that he'd befriended. _Naruto . . ._ His eyes slipped closed involuntarily as he gave into the sweet darkness of oblivion.

A surviving lone Oto ninja crept closer to the unconscious man. He took out his kunai, having exhausted his chakra supply long ago (with only enough left to keep him alive and kicking). Closer, closer . . . another step and that Konoha jerk would be dead as a doorknob. He raised his kunai high, intending to slice through the man's jugular vein . . .

. . . and was promptly foiled by a bellowing call of _"Kongousouha!"_

That poor ninja never stood a chance. He was ripped to shreds by the barrage of diamond spikes.

A white-haired youth sheathed his sword and looked around, his keen eyes wandering over the hitai-ate of the dead and unconscious ninjas, seeking for a surviving ally. His ears picked up the faint sound of a beating heart where the dead enemy was formerly standing.

He walked over and saw a man with a scar across the bridge of his nose. His Konoha hitai-ate glinted in the sunlight. The youth picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. Then he looked for other survivors in the mass of bodies littering the street.

* * *

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The Oto ninja screamed like little girls as they were crushed underneath the mountain of fur and meat and fat that was the Raccoon boss, Hachi. His master stood on his head, directing what he should do, and trying his best to make sure Hachi didn't step on any of the Konoha ninja. The golden staff glinted in the light for a moment before the master swung down to deal the remaining ninjas a crushing blow.

_I may not be a ninja,_ the person thought. _But I gotta say, I love summoning._

"Hey, you!" a tired, but defiant female voice screamed at him. "Who are you? You must be an ally if you're destroying the Oto shinobi."

The person grinned. "My name is Miroku. A month ago some people from this village came and sought our help. We agreed, and here we are. And your name, milady?" he said, a devilish grin adorning his boyish face as he hopped to the ground and kissed her hand.

The woman smirked back at him. "The name's Anko. Now help me get rid of these stupid pests."

"As you wish."

* * *

"Sasuke! Behind you!" Naruto yelled, punching another enemy ninja in the face while creating another Kage Bunshin to help him defend.

The ebony-haired boy whirled around and struck the offender in the throat, making the ninja crumble to the ground. The two boys pressed against each other back to back, helping each other ward off the constant stream of ninja attacking them. They appeared to be holding back from fatally wounding Sasuke, but had no qualms about splitting Naruto's head in half.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed as a stray kunai caught him in the side. He muffled a grunt as he pulled it out and tossed it aside. "Take this, you bastards! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Sakura had long since fallen, her unconscious body among the first of the dead and wounded in that battle area. Kakashi had been drawn elsewhere, leaving the two boys to fend for themselves.

Naruto was struggling to keep himself upright, but it was difficult with the enemy ninja pressing in on all sides and Kyuubi trying to get out to slaughter them all.

"Hiyaaaaaaah!"

An unfamiliar battle cry rang through the area, temporarily distracting the enemy ninja. Naruto and Sasuke both paused to look over in that direction, only to turn slightly green in the face as the enemies in front of them were minced, sliced and shredded to bits of blood and flesh and bone.

The bloodied figure landed near them after he finished, hefting a giant sword over his shoulder. "Hey, kids!" he called out to them. "You can rest now. I'll take care of the rest!"

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked icily.

"My name's Bankotsu! Kagome told me she agreed to help some village win a war, so when I allied with her, I came here," the man said, shrugging. "Man, this is pretty bad. Wonder how this village survived for so long."

"Oh! They came, Sasuke! They came!" Naruto shouted joyfully, putting an arm over his friend's shoulder and laughing.

"Tch." Of course Sasuke was unhappy that his spotlight had been stolen, but he was secretly glad that the man had come. He was really tired.

* * *

Kakashi sat back heavily against the crumbled stone wall of the building that used to be the bookstore. It was now a crumbled pile of ruins and ashes and corpses. His Sharingan overuse was really taking a toll on him. He looked up at the sky and thought about whether the people they had asked to help them would really come.

"Kakashi."

Kakashi's eyes shot wide open when he heard the sound of a familiar voice. He must've been fighting too much if he hadn't been able to sense the man's presence from such a close distance.

"Itachi," he returned coolly.

Itachi surveyed the area. _As expected of the Copy Ninja, he's taken out nearly an entire platoon,_ thought the ex-Akatsuki shinobi. "I am not with the Akatsuki anymore. I am here to help Konoha defeat Oto."

"So I can see," Kakashi said. "I'm quite tired. I do not trust you completely, but I need to sleep. I do hope you have no intentions to kill me in my sleep."

"I have no interest in killing you," Itachi said. "Do what you must."

Kakashi promptly drifted off, completely forgetting about the shinobi rules that he was taught and lived by.

* * *

Most of the rookie genin had joined together in a big group to help each other defend against the Oto ninja. They were all tired, ready to pass out, and sleep for a month or two, but with so many enemies left, they had to force themselves to keep fighting.

. . . Well, at least that was until salvation suddenly came through.

"Hiraikotsu!"

The rookie genin were all startled and surprised when a huge boomerang flew out of nowhere and cut through the enemy ranks like a knife through butter. The boomerang curved back towards its owner, who caught it with ease and readied into another fighting stance.

"Bitch!" one of the Oto ninja spat at the newcomer.

"What did you call me, you bastards?" she screamed, plowing through the rest of them with her boomerang and sword and leaving them with plenty of cuts, bruises, broken bones and sliced limbs. When she was finished, she was drenched in the blood of enemy which dyed her face and clothes red.

"Damn it, I wanted to avoid getting blood on my clothes," she muttered. "I'll just ask Kagome to use that cleaning technique later."

"Hey, lady!" a feral-looking boy said. "Thanks for the help."

"My name is Sango. Are you guys alright?" she asked, strapping her boomerang over her back.

They all collapsed to the ground, uncaring that it was dirty and flecked with blood. "I'm so glad we can finally rest!" yawned Ino. "I think I'm gonna sleep for a week straight."

"Try a month," Shikamaru muttered.

"You're just lazy," she retorted.

"Well, you guys get some rest. I'll watch over you," Sango said, flicking her sword a few times to shake off the blood.

They agreed.

* * *

"_Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!"_

Neji blasted another enemy ninja's tenketsu points with his speedy fingers. Was there no end to the enemies? Even Lee and Gai were tired, and were no longer spouting nonsense about their "youthful" bullcrap.

"Neji! Watch out!" Gai yelled.

Neji spun quickly, cursing because an enemy had gotten into his blind spot. However, it was too late to defend. The ninja sank his kunai deep into Neji's chest, puncturing his left lung. The Hyuuga branch member coughed up blood and lost consciousness, falling limply to the ground.

"Neji!" Lee shouted, running over to his fallen rival.

"Lee, no!" Gai cried out hoarsely, watching as the enemy ninja moved to slice his student's throat open.

A whirlwind crashed into the battlefield and kicked the enemy. Gai heard the distinctive loud crack of the ninja's neck snapping and knew that he was dead.

A strange man appeared when the whirlwind died down. With his super-speed, he proceeded to break and crush the enemies' bones and skulls. Gai was amazed. Even with his gates open he couldn't begin to compare to the stranger's speed and strength as he plowed through the enemy.

In a few minutes all the enemy ninja lay dead or unconscious on the battlefield.

The strange man turned around and gave them a shit-eating grin that was very similar to Kiba's. "Yo! Looks like you needed some help!" he said. "My name's Koga and I'm the Lord of the Northern Mountains."

"You have great youth!" Gai gushed. "As punishment for being unable to finish off the enemies myself I will do five-thousand push-ups on my pinky!"

Koga was unsure how to respond to such a strange and ecstatic statement.

* * *

**Hoo-boy, I'm finally done. I can't believe it's been over two months since I last updated. That's a fail on my part. Ahahaha! Well, this chapter wasn't really long in terms of pages, but it contains over 3000 words, so I think that counts for something. The big battle will happen in the next chapter, so stay tuned (that is, if I can update within the next three months . . .). Please review, no flames.**

**Translations**

**Akatsuki - dawn**

**Hakke Rokujuuyonshou – Eight Divination Signs Sixty-four Palms of the Hand**

**Hiraikotsu – Boomerang Bone**

**Hitai-ate - headband**

**Hokage – Fire Shadow**

**Jishin – earthquake**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique**

**Kongousouha – Adament Barrage**

**Konoha/Konohagakure – Village Hidden in the Leaves**

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu – Summoning Technique**

**Orochi-teme – Serpent bastard**

**Oto/Otogakure – Village Hidden in Sound**

**Rasentatsumaki – Spiral Tornado**

**Sharingan – Mirror-Wheel Eye**

**MangaFreak15**


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